Eben Smith (December 17, 1832 – November 5, 1906) was a successful mine owner, smelting company executive, railroad executive and bank owner in Colorado in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Early life
Eben Smith was born in Erie, Pennsylvania, the son of William and Mary (Nelson) Smith, descendants of English and Scottish immigrants who emigrated to Erie County, Pennsylvania, in the latter part of the 17th century. He was educated in public and private schools in Waterford, Pennsylvania.
In 1852, Smith traveled to California, taking passage on a steamship and crossing the Isthmus of Panama before traveling up the west coast to San Francisco. He arrived in December, and spent two years engaged in placer mining in Sierra County. Shortly after his arrival in California, Smith married Caroline Jordan. The couple had two sons, Lemuel (born in 1857) and Samuel (born in 1858).
Earning a small amount of money, Smith built a hotel at French Corral in Nevada County. He sold his interest in the hotel and returned to mining. He worked in Placer County, and was subsequently hired to oversee construction of a mill near present-day Bakersfield. Smith became half-owner of the mill, which grew to become the largest milling plant in California at the time. In 1856, Smith and R.A. McClellan purchased the entire Gold Ledge property. Smith continued working the mine and operating the mill until May 1859. He sold his share to McClellan and the family returned east.
Move to Colorado
The fall of 1859 proved to be a turning point in the life of Eben Smith. While visiting his brother, Dr. S.D. Smith (a prominent physician in St. Joseph, Missouri), he met Jerome B. Chaffee. The two men met a party of miners returning from Colorado who had participated in the Pike's Peak Gold Rush. The men told glowing accounts of rich gold-laden quartz veins in the region. Smith became determined to have milling machinery constructed, disassembled and hauled overland to Pikes Peak. Although Chaffee had no experience in mining or milling, he agreed to co-finance and partner with Smith in the venture. Chaffee left for Colorado in February 1860, settling in Gilpin County. Smith in Denver on May 26. Setting up business in Lake Gulch, the Smith & Chaffee mill began working lead ore.
Smith was the only man in Colorado at the time who had experience in milling quartz to extract gold. Smith soon hired himself out to various mines, and inaugurated measures for working and developing promising gold lodes in Gilpin County.
In 1863, Smith and Chaffee sold their mill. They purchased and developed the Bobtail Mine near Black Hawk; the Gregory Mine in Teller County; and other mines. They held the properties for about a year before selling to a Rhode Island mining consortium (retaining a small interest). For many years, the Bobtail remained one of the greatest gold producers in Colorado. Late in 1863, Smith's third child, Nellie, was born.
However, the move to Colorado proved to be a strain on the Smith marriage. Eben and Caroline Smith divorced in 1864. Caroline retained custody of the children and settled in Iowa.
When Chaffee established the First National Bank of Denver in 1865, Smith was a co-investor in the bank and named president.
In 1866, Smith was elected to the Colorado state legislature from Gilpin county. He served one term. That same year, he married Emily Rundel of Rochester, New York.
Mining operations
Smith continued mining in Gilpin and Teller counties. Chaffee and Smith organized a group investors in 1867, purchased a mine and formed the Georgetown Silver Smelting Company. Smith invested in a large number of mines, building his wealth. Eben and Emily Smith's first child, Kate May, was born in 1867. But the child died at age thirteen months.
In 1876, he moved from Denver to Boulder, Colorado. Eben and Emily's second child, Cora Isabel, was born in 1870, followed by son Frank in 1871. (Smith's son, Lemuel, joined his father out West in 1880.)